Jazz

Sonos is filed to go public as early as June, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. According to documents filed with the SEC, Sonos hopes to be valued at $3 billion for the IPO.
The Sonos IPO comes on the heels of Spotify's successful direct public stock offering, and strong signs Tencent Music, the giant Chinese based music streamer, while file for an IPO in the coming weeks. Vivendi, the parent of Universal Music Group, has also publicly stated that it's exploring spinning off the world's largest music group with an IPO...

The 'incredible clarity of purpose' flutist-composer m: Andrea Brachfeld gained after spending 2016 in deep introspection about her life and music generated the nine original compositions on her exhilarating new album If Not Now, When?, which is set for May 18 release by Jazzheads Records. The quartet outing, featuring the dynamic rhythm section of pianist, arranger, co-composer, and co-producer Bill O'Connell, a longtime collaborator, as well as bassist Harvie S and drummer Jason Tiemann, is an uncompromising manifestation of music Brachfeld recalls came to her on a cold day in January 2017...

All About Jazz is celebrating Jimmy Giuffre's birthday today!
Reedman and composer Jimmy Giuffre was born in Dallas, TX. He started his musical education at age 9 learning the clarinet and within few years he was proficient enough to give solo clarinet recitals at local functions. After high school he attended North Texas State University receiving a B. A. in music. During his college years he played in local bands... Read more...

An expanded Music Modernization Act is scheduled for a vote in the United States House of Representatives on Wednesday. Though not without its critics, the bipartisan legislation has the strong support of most of the music industry, including the growing independent label sector.
The Music Modernization Act, to be put before Congress on Wednesday, combines three bills, including the original Music Modernization Act, which mandates a new organization to collect mechanical royalties and offers streaming music services protection from copyright infringement lawsuits filed after this last January. Also a part of the expanded legislation is the Compensating Legacy Artists for their Songs, Service, and Important Contributions to Society (CLASSICS) Act, Allocation for Music Producers (AMP) Act and part of the Fair Play Fair Pay Act which changes how the Copyright Royalty Board sets streaming rates...

Performing has long been a mainstay of most musician's income, and as festivals continue to grow in popularity, many artists have found that they can earn good money and maintain more creative control by engineering more artist curated festivals.
Guest post by Amanda Wicks of CASH Music
It's no secret that musicians earn a significant percentage of their revenue from touring. What they recoup from streaming -- which now undergirds the music industry more than ever -- represents mere drops in a bucket compared to the financial control they wield through ticket and merchandise sales. As singer-songwriter and producer Mike Errico explained in the New York Times, 'The advice given to the creative generators of this multibillion-dollar industry is still one that would be recognizable to a medieval troubadour: Go on tour...

While the internet can theoretically allow you to access a potentially limitless fanbase, starting out there can make it difficult to cut through the clutter of millions of other vying for listeners attention, meaning artists just starting out are often better off working to develop a local fanbase first...

All About Jazz is celebrating Ella Fitzgerald's birthday today!
Dubbed "The First Lady of Song," Ella Fitzgerald was the most popular female jazz singer in the United States for more than half a century. In her lifetime, she won 13 Grammy awards and sold over 40 million albums. Her voice was flexible, wide-ranging, accurate and ageless. She could sing sultry ballads, sweet jazz and imitate every instrument in an orchestra. She worked with all the jazz greats, from Duke Ellington... Read more...

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes the reunion tour of two major jazz stars; a rare visit from a famed bassist; a couple of tributes to Duke Ellington; and plenty of other sounds ranging from vintage to experimental. Let's go to the highlights...
Wednesday, April 25...

Yesterday was an especially busy day from a writing perspective. To clear my head and stay focused, I put on Consummation by the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra. I have no idea why I reached for it. I haven't heard the album in years. I bought the record when it first came out in 1970, and I probably wanted to re-hear the variation of smart orchestral pieces that Thad Jones composed and arranged...

While patience is commonly known to be a virtue, it may just be a necessity for cultivating a successful career in the music business. In this piece Patrick McGuire looks what an incredibly useful asset patience can be in all areas of the music industry.
Guest post by Patrick McGuire of the ReverbNation Blog...